After a nearly two year break, FOX has finally released another season of The Simpsons on DVD, closing the gap between the existing releases. All 20 episodes of the show’s nineteenth (2007-2008) season is now available in its own DVD boxset, and also as part of a limited DVD collector’s set containing seasons 1-20.

I always enjoy revisiting seasons of The Simpsons on DVD. I hadn’t seen most of these episodes since they originally aired over 10 years ago, but the storylines came quickly flooding back as I binged through the season. This show is so timeless and easy to enjoy. I started watching The Simpsons when the family’s adventures were just shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show, but I still find the show as fresh and fun as ever.

This nineteenth season collection includes some really great episodes. There’s the annual Treehouse of Horror episode, which provides parodies of E.T., Mr. & Mrs. Smith, and Seven, and Kelsey Grammer returns for the tenth time as Sideshow Bob as he attempts once more to get his revenge on Bart and his family, and his brother Cecil Terwilliger (David Hyde Pierce) also returns. Singer Lurleen Lumpkin (Beverly D’Angelo), who tried to seduce “Colonel Homer” in season three, also comes back this season, this time on the run for tax evasion and hiding out in the Simpsons’ home. And speaking of being on-the-lam, Homer’s mother Mona (Glenn Close) also returns for the third time, for a sad goodbye to her son. Other story lines this season find Homer turning into an opera singer, getting plastic surgery, and losing his memory, Marge getting kidnapped, Bart literally having a cow, the family heading to the Sundance Film Festival, Lisa becoming Krusty the Clown’s replacement, Milhouse believing he’s an orphan and becoming popular, Comic Book Guy dealing with a new rival shop, Ralph running for president, a 90s flashback, a Valentine’s Day trilogy of tales, and more.

Some of the other amazing guest stars for the show’s nineteenth season include Stephen Colbert, Lionel Richie, Maya Rudolph, Plácido Domingo, Matt Dillon, Steve Buscemi, Ted Nugent, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Alan Moore, Art Spiegelman, Dan Clowes, Jack Black, Maurice LaMarche, John Mahoney, Keith Olbermann, Jon Stewart, Dan Rather, Kurt Loder, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Topher Grace, Terry Gross, The Dixie Chicks, Zooey Deschanel, Jim Jarmusch, John C. Reilly, Lance Armstrong, and Drew Carey!

Fortunately, for this release FOX has presented the episodes in their original 4:3 full frame aspect ratio, as they originally aired on TV. While these episodes can be streamed on Disney+, on that service the episodes are presented in a widescreen format that crops off the top and bottom of the picture, losing a large portion of the animation and some of the sight gags. This DVD release allowed the fans to see the episodes in their original, unedited form.

Despite this being a DVD-only release, the episodes look quite good, with a clean, bright and colorful picture that looks nearly flawless. The discs provide a 5.1 audio track. The majority of the dialogue is presented in the center channel, with the stereo channels utilized to add some ambiance and motion—such as the sound of passing cars or airplanes, characters storming off-camera, etc.—and the surround channel is primarily utilized to enhance the score.

The bonus features on this release primarily consist of audio commentaries, which are provided on all 20 episodes. Participants include the series creator, writers, stars, guest stars, and more. In addition to the commentaries, there is a short DVD introduction by series creator Matt Groening, a short 30-year FOX promo, and one episode presented in multiple languages.

The season is split evenly across four DVD discs, each of which offers a play all option with or without the commentaries, making it easy to binge the episodes whichever way you choose. The discs are placed inside of a folded digisleeve—the cardboard packaging unfolds with slots for each disc, along with a slot containing a full color episode guide booklet. The discs, packaging and motion menus are all adorned with beautiful colored pencil drawings of the Simpson family by artist Bill Plympton. The foldable cardboard digisleeve fits inside of an outer cardboard box with a velcro-sealable front flap. Inside this cover flap is a written version of creator Matt Groening’s “A Plea for Sanity”, which is similar to the DVD introduction, but in text format.

I am so happy to see that FOX has continued to release this series on disc, especially in its original aspect ratio. Even though episodes may be available for streaming, there are still those who love to collect and own their favorite shows. I hope that FOX continues to release the remaining seasons of the series on disc…and doesn’t wait another two years before the next one!

What’s Included:

Episodes: (7:17:40)

• All 20 episodes of the show’s nineteenth season (2007-2008):
  Disc 1: “He Loves to Fly and He D’ohs”, “The Homer of Seville”, “Midnight Towboy”, “I Don’t Wanna Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”, “Treehouse of Horror XVIII”
  Disc 2: “Little Orphan Millie”, “Husbands and Knives”, “Funeral for a Fiend”, “Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind”, “E Pluribus Wiggum”
  Disc 3: “That ’90s Show”, “Love, Springfieldian Style”, “The Debarted”, “Dial “N” for Nerder”, “Smoke on the Daughter”
  Disc 4: “Papa Don’t Leech”, “Apocalypse Cow”, “Any Given Sundance”, “Mona Leaves-a”, “All About Lisa”
• 480i / Full Frame 1.33:1
• Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0, French Dolby Digital 2.0
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
• Closed Captions

Extras:

• “A Plea For Sanity” by Matt Groening (2:51)
  Series creator Matt Groening provides a fun introduction to the DVD box set and overview of the season.
• Special Language Feature (21:49)
  Watch the episode “Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind” in French, Italian, Portuguese or Hungarian (in addition to the standard English, Spanish and French found on the other episodes). During playback of the episode, press the audio button on the remote to cycle between the languages.
• Thank You (:21)
  Short FOX ad thanking fans for 30 years of The Simpsons.
• Episode Commentaries (7:17:40)
  Audio commentaries are provided on all 20 episodes. The participants vary per episode and are listed below—they range from the series creator, to writers, stars, guest stars, and more. The discussions aren’t always specific to what’s being shown on screen, and often turn into general discussions about the show. But the participants do provide some nice background to the episodes, share some interesting behind-the-scenes stories, point out Easter eggs, and more. This is one of the features I always look forward to on the Simpsons DVD releases, and they once again don’t disappoint.
  • “He Loves to Fly and He D’ohs” (21:01)
    Al Jean, Joel H. Cohen, Matt Selman, Tom Gammill, Max Pross, David Silverman, Mike B Anderson, Ralph Sosa
  • “The Homer of Seville” (22:01)
    Matt Groening, Al Jean, Carolyn Omine, Michael Price, Tom Gammill, Max Pross, David Silverman, Michael Polcino
  • “Midnight Towboy” (22:04)
    Al Jean, Stephanie Gillis, Matt Selman, Tom Gammill, Max Pross, David Silverman, Vyolet Jean
  • “I Don’t Wanna Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” (22:01)
    Al Jean, Dana Gould, Ian Maxtone-Graham, Matt Selman, Tom Gammill, David Silverman
  • “Treehouse of Horror XVIII” (21:35)
    Al Jean, Tim Long, Jeff Westbrook, Tom Gammill, Max Pross, David Silverman, Chuck Sheetz
  • “Little Orphan Millie” (21:56)
    Al Jean, Mick Kelly, Matt Selman, J. Stewart Burns, Tom Gammill, Max Pross, Lance Kramer
  • “Husbands and Knives” (21:53)
    Matt Groening, Al Jean, Matt Selman, Joel H. Cohen, Tom Gammill, Max Pross, David Silverman
  • “Funeral for a Fiend” (21:57)
    Matt Groening, Al Jean, Michael Price, Matt Selman, Tom Gammill, Max Pross, David Silverman
  • “Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind” (21:50)
    Al Jean, J. Stewart Burns, Matt Selman, Tom Gammill, Max Pross, Chuck Sheetz
  • “E Pluribus Wiggum” (21:38)
    Matt Groening, Al Jean, Michael Price, Carolyn Omine, Tom Gammill, Max Pross, David Silverman, Michael Polcino
  • “That ’90s Show” (21:58)
    Matt Groening, Al Jean, Matt Selman, Tim Long, Tom Gammill, Max Pross, Yeardley Smith, Raymond Saharath Persi
  • “Love, Springfieldian Style” (21:46)
    Matt Groening, Al Jean, Matt Selman, Tim Long, Tom Gammill, Max Pross, Yeardley Smith, Raymond Saharath Persi
  • “The Debarted” (22:01)
    Matt Groening, Al Jean, Joel H. Cohen, Matt Selman, Tom Gammill, Max Pross, David Silverman, Topher Grace
  • “Dial “N” for Nerder” (22:01)
    Al Jean, Carolyn Omine, Matt Selman, John Frink, Tom Gammill, Max Pross, Steven Dean Moore
  • “Smoke on the Daughter” (21:47)
    Al Jean, Billy Kimball, Ian Maxtone-Graham, Matt Selman, Tom Gammill, Max Pross, David Silverman, Lance Kramer, Dana Gould
  • “Papa Don’t Leech” (21:58)
    Al Jean, Matt Selman, Tom Gammill, Max Pross, David Silverman
  • “Apocalypse Cow” (22:01)
    Al Jean, Jeff Westbrook, Tim Long, Tom Gammill, Max Pross, David Silverman, Chuck Sheetz
  • “Any Given Sundance” (21:56)
    Matt Groening, Al Jean, Matt Selman, Tom Gammill, Max Pross, Mike Scully, David Silverman
  • “Mona Leaves-a” (21:58)
    Al Jean, Joel H. Cohen, Matt Selman, Tom Gammill, Max Pross, David Silverman, Mike B Anderson, Ralph Sosa
  • “All About Lisa” (21:58)
    Al Jean, John Frink, Matt Selman, Carolyn Omine, Tom Gammill, Max Pross, Steven Dean Moore

Final Thoughts:

It’s great to see another season of The Simpsons finally make its way onto disc. The release looks great, and contains a solidly-entertaining collection of 20 episodes. For those who don’t really listen to commentaries, the bonus features will be lacking, but for those fans like myself who enjoy them, it’s great to see commentaries once again provided on every episode—I just wish more of the show’s voice cast would have participated. This release is an easy must own for all Simpsons fans, especially for those who want to encourage the rest of the series to get released on disc!